Cop psych test bill clears committee

A bill requiring prospective police officers to take psychological exams has passed an Assembly committee. The bill, a response to last fall's tragic shootings by a young police officer in Crandon , is cosponsored by Reps. Garey Bies , a former Brown County deputy, and Ann Hraychuck , a former Polk County Sheriff. The bill "will force county and village boards to look at the necessity of psychological examinations, and to spend $300 on a very wise investment," said Hraychuck. The bill provides no state money for the testing.

And what about officers who want to move from one department to another? An amendment to the bill requires they be retested, a concern for Rep. Dean Kaufert , himself the son of a police officer. "What happens if you are a cop in Neenah, and you take the test to be a cop in Appleton, and that testing ten years later says you aren't a good fit? What happens to your job in Neenah? What happens to your reputation in Neenah?"

The bill , which does not require testing for part-time officers, was approved Thursday on a 6-3 vote by the Assembly Committee on Corrections and Courts. The Crandon shooter, 20 year-old Tyler Peterson, was a full time Forest County Sheriff's deputy, and part time Crandon police officer.